Directed by Craig Jones
Written & Directed by CRAIG JONES
Set in a post viral outbreak world, two brothers reflect on their past and joint love of music.
Today we continue our Short of the Week series. After last weeks heartwarming, award-winning family drama - TMI - this week things take a more serious turn. Last year director Craig Jones brought his film UNCONTAINED to our Short Film Open Mic. Little did we know how topical it would soon become.
Recently we caught up with Craig (via email - practicing good social distancing) for a quick Q&A.
What was your inspiration to write Uncontained:
I had wanted to shoot a viral outbreak film for a while, and had the rough semblance of a story in my head. I didn’t want to make it an action film, or a zombie film though as has so often been done. To me the most interesting thing about situations like that are the human interactions, relationships pushed to the limits by extreme circumstances. So I decided to write about two brothers, and what their final moments would be like in a hopeless situation. In many ways it’s the most heart warming story I’ve written. Even though the setting is bleak, there is still this genuine connection there, with the older brother, “Pete”, refusing to give up hope for his little brother, and trying to keep him happy during his final moments. It’s a story about doing everything you can for someone you love, no matter how hard that might be.
What's your writing process:
This film was made as part of the Reading Fringe 48 Hour Film Festival, so it was written very differently from other scripts I’ve written. I had the framework for the story in my mind heading into this, which was driven by the location I’d secured. I was fortunate enough to be working in an office building that was partway through being renovated, there was no flooring down, but it had recently had the meeting rooms built. The front wall of the rooms were made of solid glass in a long corridor, and looked like it could be in a hospital, so I decided to turn the conference room into a quarantine space. Everything from that night was such a blur, I would be lying if I could tell you exactly what my process was. I knew the end of the story, but wasn’t sure of how I was going to get there. The actor that plays “Pete” wanted to bring a musical aspect to the piece, so we added a song to open and end the film with to bring it around full circle, and made the relationship the brothers had about music. I thought this would go down well, as music is a fantastic tool for bringing people together. As the film is dialogue driven, I wanted to make it realistic. The script was more of a framework for the actors, as some of the lines were ad libbed. In a tight time crunch of a 48 hour challenge, I want the actors to take responsibility to bring their characters to life, and I feel they did a great job.
What was it like to bring the script to life:
This piece came together very quickly. Sometimes when doing these 48 hour challenges you don’t really know what you’ve got until you get the footage into the edit, but with this one I think we all knew it would be special to us. There was a great energy on set, no one was sitting back, everyone was pitching in and in good spirits which helped tremendously. Watching it play out was a real honour, as everyone was contributing ideas, from lines of dialogue, to set design and even make up details. In fact some of the best moments in the film were thought up just minutes before shooting them. When I got the footage into the edit, the original cut was around 7 minutes long, but it needed to be nearer to 5 minutes for the contest. It always amazes me how much can be cut from a story and you still get the same message. Less is almost always more. I think I got about 4 hours sleep that whole weekend, as I was writing, directing and editing the piece, but very happy with how it turned out. It was worth all the effort.
Did you have any creative solutions for working on a small budget:
I was lucky enough to be working with a pretty resourceful crew. I can’t remember how much we spent on the piece in total, but it can’t have been more than £300. We got the location for free, as I was working in the building, and just asked if we could film. Sometimes it is just as easy as asking. The costumes were easily sourced, and the props were pretty minimal. I tend to write to my budget, it’s something I’ve had to learn. Dialogue is cheap, and as we were only in one location this also really kept the costs down. That would be my one piece of advice to anyone doing a 48 hour film challenge, the less locations the better. You’ll save time where you’re not having to setup and backup multiple times, and you can use this time to really focus on the details. A good story doesn’t need a big budget, but having an experienced and dedicated crew makes all the difference.
What's your favourite part of the filmmaking process:
For me, my favourite part of the process is always editing. It’s the first time where you can see these disparate pieces of data being pulled together into something tangible. You can see the shots as you film, sure, but there’s nothing like getting that first edit together and hitting play. To see it all the way through, knowing that it works as a piece, it’s normally a relief that all the hard work has paid off up until that point. Tightening up the edit, then getting the soundtrack in, and the audio design, you feel the piece coming to life, layer after layer of polish being added. There’s something almost magical about that for me, seeing it transform.
Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?